Performance is all the rage today, and not without good reason. With the rapid growth of the mobile-first world, spotty connections and underpowered devices are serious issues that every web project team needs to consider. However, “performance” is in danger of becoming a buzzword as it becomes thrown around without regard for what truly matters. We measure performance by micro-benchmarks, metrics of various programming techniques, or the difference between trendy framework A and trendy framework B’s rendering cycles. Don’t get me wrong. These things matter, particularly at scale. However, the truly important metric you should care about is *perceived* performance.

If you’re a brand, and you have customers, people are talking about you. But instead of getting defensive, smart companies are seeing social interaction as a chance to engage, build brand loyalty, and innovate.

Most brand-agency partnerships start with an RFP and a goal in mind, but that’s like bringing a prenup on the first date. Brands will get more value out of the relationship if they give agencies time to learn their goals and even to fall in love with the brand.

Doing great marketing work is hard, and staying on the cutting edge is even harder. But if you’re ready to take command of your own fate, you can succeed. We look at the foundational and domain specific skills every new marketer should know, at least at the conversational level, before their next job interview.

Friday our nation took a momentous step towards love and community. In a 5-4 decision in Obergefell v. Hodges, the Supreme Court took a huge step forward in our progress toward a more perfect union. We’re really passionate about this step towards a better world and a few members of our team quickly asked themselves the question: “how can we capture this love in one place”. With the #lovewins hashtag exploding on social media, we just had make something to celebrate this historic moment.